Call for info on new BL&P licences

Barbadians should not be kept in the dark about the details of Barbados Light & Power Company’s (BL&P) new operating licences from Government.

Trevor Browne, spokesman for the Coalition of Cooperatives, is calling for the information to be made public, because, he asserted, it will “have direct and significant impact on every area of life in Barbados for the next generation”.

The new licences were announced in November during a signing ceremony addressed by Minister of Energy and Business Senator Lisa Cummins and BL&P managing director Roger Blackman.

The existing licence is due to expire in 2028 and is being succeeded by two new 30-year ones.

Blackman said the new framework consisted of one licence covering generation and storage and a second one covering “everything else”, including transmission, distribution, sales and dispatch.

In a statement yesterday on behalf of the Coalition of Cooperatives, which was an intervenor in the BL&P electricity rate hearing before the Fair Trading Commission, Browne said details on the new licences were needed.

“The Ministry of Energy of Barbados has announced the awards of franchise licences to the BL&P to renew the 42-year licence which expires in two years, with a new 30-year franchise. This multibillion-dollar business transaction will have direct and significant impact on every area of life in Barbados for the next generation,” he said.

Major reform

“It must be passing strange that virtually no details of these negotiations pertaining to a prime national good have been exposed to public scrutiny.”

The professional engineer is suggesting that unless Barbadians are provided with answers and assurances regarding many issues concerning BL&P and the electricity sector, “then the new licence should be immediately amended with major reform in the interest of natural justice”.

Browne said the public should have the opportunity to “review the terms and conditions under which the franchise will be extended for 30 years”.

He also argued for the information on new BL&P licences to be shared in the context of commitments the company made to customers to upgrade plant and in relation to nearly $99.5 million in dividends paid to BL&P owner Emera.

Browne also asked for licence information to “ensure stiff penalties are levied if the public grid is compromised again due to inadequate attention”.

“The electricity sector is fundamental to any possibility of a successful future for Barbados. Every effort must be taken to maximise the efficiency of this sector and to minimise the cost of electricity,” he said.

“Our national productivity and international competitiveness depend heavily on such success.”

Browne said while the cooperative movement was “pleased to have participated in this current rate hearing as intervenors”, it came away from the experience “with grave concerns about the structure, transparency, efficiency and effectiveness of the existing national electricity framework and especially of the regulatory authorities”.

“In another report coming shortly, we will outline the kinds of reforms that co-operatives have been proposing since 2022, but which have received no attention from authorities,” he added.

Cummins said that clearing the hurdle related to the expiring licence in 2028 would benefit additional investments in the energy sector and help remove the uncertainty concerning the electricity grid.

“I think that all of Barbados knows that the grid in the country has had what we have been describing as gridlock. We have a number of projects that have been awaiting connection to the grid [but] it is important for projects to not just have connections to the grid, but to have signed power purchase agreements that establish the relationship between independent power producers as part of the democratisation of the energy process and the off-taker, namely [BL&P],” she said at the signing ceremony.

“We have completed negotiation of the licences for the operations of [BL&P] in Barbados. It allows for those power purchase agreements to be signed because there is clarity and there’s predictability in the relationship between the utility and the Government of Barbados.” (SC)

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